Beverley Topa
oli
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Although born in a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts, and spending much of my youth in New Hampshire, my New England roots are now firmly entrenched in the fertile loam of the Midwest. While my heart battles a dichotomy of loyalties, my brush and pen follow a divergent, yet symbiotic course, with both my writing and my artwork appearing in numerous editions of “From the Edge of the Prairie,” a collection of works by Midwestern writers published by the Prairie Writers Guild of Rensselaer, Indiana. My work has been included in the 2006-2010 editions. I was honored to have my painting, “Interlude in Blue,” a Chicago waterfront café scene, grace the cover of the 2010 edition.
I think of my artwork as a shared breath of life, a gift from my heart to the heart of the viewer, an offering of the beautiful symphony of life that I have tried to transpose onto canvas. I would love to take the viewer’s hands, draw them into the canvas and say, “Walk with me through this moment in time; feel this presence, know this face, this place, this life. Go forward, but do not forget the yesterdays; remember and treasure them. Know that their legacy, this transitional nanosecond captured on canvas, is where our path left off and yours began.”
I am passionate about portraiture, because the human face is a roadmap of its history, intriguing in all its variants of personality, culture, ethnic and racial diversity. It is the essence of this ode to life and living that compels my creative juices to shift into overdrive, as I try to capture the tapestry of the human spirit I see etched on the faces of my fellow man.
Art Education
Indiana University/Purdue University, satellite classes, Crown Point, IN
South Shore, (Northern Indiana), Art Association, Munster, and Crown Point, IN
Hobart Arts League –
Instructors:
Wes Berrier
Gerrie Govert
Mark Polomchak
Fred Holly
Lady Margaret Keplinger.
Hudson River Valley Art Workshops, Greenville, NY, Ned Mueller - Instructor
Chelich’s Studio of Fine Art, Workshop, Hammond, IN, Michael Chelich - Instructor
Hobart Arts League Workshops
Lady Margaret Keplinger
Wes Berrier
Michael Chelich
Selected Juried Exhibitions, Honors and Awards
Book Cover - 2010 Edition of “From the Edge of the Prairie”
2008 & 2009 – Reader’s Choice Award, Two First Place Awards for Illustration – “From the Edge of the Prairie”
2008 – Hobart Arts League Annual Juried Exhibition – Second Place Award
“From the Edge of the Prairie” – Artwork Published in 2007-2010 Editions
2007 – ILLIANA Artists Show, Chesterton Art Gallery, Chesterton, IN, Honorable Mention Award
2005, & 2010 – Chesterton Women’s Club, Chesterton, IN, Two Honorable Mentions
2001, 2005, 2007, 2008 – NIAA/Hammond Public Library Seniors Show – Hammond, IN – One First Place, Three Honorable Mention Awards
2001 – “Eclectic Indiana,” First Ladies’ Series, Governor’s Mansion, Indianapolis
2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, Annual Juried Shows, Art Barn, Valparaiso, IN
2001 – “SKIN,” National Juried Exhibit, Union Street Gallery, Chicago Heights, IL
2001 – Voght Visual Arts Center, Tinley Park, IL, 5th Annual Juried Exhibition`
2000 – WYIN, Channel 56 Fine Art and Furniture Auction and Show, Hammond, IN, Honorable Mention Award
1997-2006, Lake County Fair – Two Best of Shows, Five Sweepstakes Rosettes, numerous First, Second, and Third, Place Awards.
Numerous juried shows, including Chesterton Art Comp, The Art Barn, Heartland Artists
Other Selected Exhibitions & Solo Shows
2000-2011 – Solo Exhibit, Pappas’ Restaurant, Crown Point, IN
2005 – Joint Exhibit, Hammond Public Library, Hammond, IN
2001 – Solo Exhibit – Porter County Administration Building, Valparaiso, IN
2001 & 2002 – Tri Kappa Bazaar and Art Show at Avalon Manor, Merrillville, IN.
18artists.com – Group Exhibits 2008 – 2011
2000-2011 – 54 Main Bistro and Art Gallery, Hobart, IN
Corporate and Private Collections
Larbus Law Group, LLC, Noblesville, IN, and Columbus, OH
Kids First Urgent Care/Red Cedar Medical Center, East Lansing, MI
Pappas’ Restaurant, Crown Point, IN